ETH Zurich has won the Swiss Watt d’Or Energy Prize for its dynamic underground storage system at the Hönggerberg campus. Switzerland’s Federal Office of Energy has recognised ETH for energy excellence in the category of “Buildings and space”.
With over 12,000 students and staff, the ETH Zurich Hönggerberg campus is an urban district in its own right. It comprises more than 30 buildings, including several teaching and research buildings equipped with the latest technologies. Each year, they consume nearly 77 gigawatt hours of energy (electricity and heat) – 22 gigawatt hours of which is for heating alone.
Until 10 years ago, heat was generated almost entirely from natural gas. In 2013, ETH Zurich began operating its Anergy Grid with an underground storage system to heat and cool the buildings at the Hönggerberg campus energy-efficiently and sustainably, as well as to reduce CO2 emissions. Both these aspects are an important part of the puzzle for meeting ETH Zurich’s goal of reducing CO2 emissions at Hönggerberg by at least 80% by 2040 compared to 2006 levels. This would be equivalent to cutting around 8,000 tons of CO2 annually. For 2020, the reduction target is 50% or 5,000 tons of CO2 annually.
Source: “ETH Zurich receives Swiss Energy Prize”, Bianca Gasser, Florian Meyer, ETH Zurich News
